The Symbolism in Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

Something Wicked Symbolism

Each story has a fresh and intriguing idea that it tries to convey over time. An allegory is a highly symbolic story that sends a specific message. The symbols in the allegory Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury clearly illustrate the theme that acceptance leads to happiness. The symbols that illustrate the theme include the Dust Witch, the Mirror Maze, and the Carousel. The acceptance of one protagonist is able to defeat one of the most evil characters of the entire story.

First off, The Dust Witch illustrates the theme that acceptance leads to happiness. The Dust Witch is stellar symbol throughout the entire reading.. She shows why she is a symbol through her deathly appearance and how she tries to kill Charles Halloway. The author states that “poison drizzled from her lips” and that Charles “counted the wrinkles in her stitch-wrinkled eyes.” Another way to identify her as evil is the fact that she tried to end Charles’ life. She attempts to slow his heart to the same beat as an old man’s. The Dust Witch becomes an obvious symbol of evil and death from one scene. Charles undoes her by his accepting death as a joke. He fights her by not caring about her of the carnival’s threats. He begins to everything about life as hilarious. When he starts to laugh she starts feeling pain instantaneously. Once he starts to chuckle even more she drops dead. The book reads, “Nothing mattered. Life in the end seemed a prank of such size. And the loudest roar of all, flung at the woman, burnt her hands, seared her face, or so it seemed, for she seized herself at a blast furnace.” (229. 4-5. 230. 11-13.) Charles finds happiness when he finally realizes that nothing matters and that

life is a prank. The Dust Witch is the one person that finally makes him understand. Her horrible actions cause Charles to find himself and become jovial in mere moments. His acceptance through from the near death experience finally causes him to be one with himself. The Dust Witch shows that acceptance leads to happiness in the clearest manner. Although an evil witch can cause someone to accept themselves, an attraction can do the exact same action.

Secondly. The Mirror Maze assists the idea in the story that acceptance leads to happiness. The Mirror Maze is a glaring example of symbolism in the book. The Mirror Maze defines itself as a symbol of fear and temptation. The Mirror Maze has drawn numerous people in such as Miss Foley and Jim Nightshade. It was able to attract Miss Foley back into her youth and go on the carousel. Miss Foley’s and Jim’s struggles both help the Mirror Maze’s case to be a symbol. Both situations show that it does in fact tempt innocent people into wanting to change themselves. While it may only work against one character, both are equally lured but one is able to escape its grasp. The Mirror Maze works against Charles Halloway to help the theme. Will and Charles enter the Mirror Maze to search for Jim. Charles starts to see clones of himself older and older from one mirror to another. He becomes self-conscious about his age and hides himself from all of it. Will then tell his dad that he does not care for his age and he will still love him under all circumstances. When he stops caring about his age and starts to laugh he destroys the Mirror Maze mirror by mirror until it is all gone. The Mirror Maze forces Charles to realize that his old age does not matter and he should live life to the absolute fullest. He finds happiness through his trials with the maze. Will says, “Oh Dad, Dad, I don’t care how old you are, ever! I don’t care what, I don’t care anything! Oh, Dad, he cried, weeping. I love you!” “A small sound escaped his mouth. A little larger sound escaped his mouth.” (258. 3-5. 15-16.) Will’s words to his father help identify the theme even more. When Will tells Charles he loves him no matter what he finally starts to learn to live with his old age. After doing so a sound, indicating a laugh, escapes his

mouth. Will is able to make his father joyful through only a few words. Charles finds true happiness by admitting to his mortality once again. Charles’ acceptance applies to other characters such as Jim. Anyone can find happiness by learning to be content with their flaws’. While happiness can defeat such powers’ as the Mirror Maze, it can also take down a whole evil operation.

Finally, the Carousel goes on to show that acceptance leads to happiness. The Carousel is the most prominent symbol during all of Something Wicked. The Carousel shows itself as a symbol of fear and pain. Throughout the story there are multiple instances of the Carousel showing its symbolism. One specific example is Miss Foley. After being tempted by the mirror maze she decides to ride the Carousel to bring herself back to her younger days. After the process Will and Jim find a little girl in the middle of the town. They find her sitting on the ground crying, fully afraid of the environment surrounding her. Miss Foley’s blunder shows exactly why the Carousel exemplifies fear and pain. The Carousel becomes fear and pain by forcing those two words onto anybody that becomes involved with it. Anytime someone uses the Carousel that person suffers inconceivable amounts of fear and pain. Negativity affects anyone involved with the evil attraction. At the end of the story Jim, Charles, and Will all come to the Carousel. They each begin to think about taking rides to better themselves’. They quickly come to a consensus that the machine must be destroyed for good. They all find happiness with their respective age and run off from the carnival. The group’s final actions help strengthen the theme. The three characters’ all start to think about going on the Carousel. Each start to give into the temptations’ of the Carousel. They then remember what will happen to them and know what they have to do. Each of them accept their age as a fact of life and know they need to move on without the Carousel. They are able to become happy with their current age. When the three accept themselves they can finally find satisfaction in life. They do not require a major lifestyle change to live a regret-less life. Charles wonders, “Is Death important? No everything that happens before Death is what counts.”

“Then, as the moon watched, the three of them together left the wilderness behind and walked into town.” Charles’ thoughts give insight into the theme. He realizes that death does not matter and that he should only worry about what he does while alive. Both Will and Jim understand the same information in their own ways’. They can all be content even though they know death is coming. Each one accepts life as what it is. None of them need a new age to live to their full potential. Each of the characters’ acceptance helps to convey the book’s amazing idea.

Something Wicked’s highly symbolic story undoubtedly states theme of how acceptance leads to happiness. First, Charles Halloway is able to accept his mortality for a joke he can finally find peace and defeat the Dust Witch. Secondly, Will Halloway helps his father become content with his old age and destroy the entire Mirror Maze. Finally, Will, Jim, and Charles all come to terms with their flaws to defeat the main attraction of the dastardly carnival, the Carousel. In conclusion, Something Wicked This Way